Synchronized control unit



April 13,1948. R. w. KERR 2,439,393

I SYNCHRONIZED CONTROL UNIT 1 I Fil ed Au 3, 1945 I N VEN TOR.

Kai 0721417591):

Patented Apr. 13, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to a control unit for synchronous control of apair of like or unlike units and it consists the constructions,arrangements and combinations herein described and claimed.

It is a particular object of the invention to provide a control unitembodying a single control lever for simultaneously actuating a pair ofremotely located instruments or devices, or to actuate one instrument ordevice independently of the other to any desired degree.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a control unit ofsimple construction and light in weight which will make it particularlydesirable for use in connection with units of aircraft to be controlled,for instance, in the control of the engines thereof.

Additional objects, advantages and features of invention will beapparent from the following description and accompanying drawing,wherein Figure 1 is a vertical section through the control unit,

Figure 2 is a top plan view thereof,

Figure 3 is a sectional view on the line 33 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional View illustrating the gearmounting.

There is shown a control unit ill consisting of two annular casings Ifand I2 of identical construction, each including an integral handlesection l3and I l. The casings and the handle sections are abutted andbolted together as indicated at !5, forming a housing for mounting ofthe operating means, now to be described.

The casings H and 12 are formed with an axial hub l6 within which thereis mounted a hub ll of respective bevel gears l8 and I9, these hubsbeing of a length so as to project beyond the outer faces of thecasings, where the hubs are formed with splines 22! for mounting ofdisks 2| and 22 rigidly upon respective hubs exteriorly of the casings.

A shaft 23 is extended through the aligned hubs ll of the gears l8 andi9 and between the gears there is positioned freely upon the shaft 23, agear mounting arm 24. One end of the arm is provided with a reduced end26 for mounting of an idler gear 21 in mesh with gears 18 and I 9, thegear 2'! being secured to the arm by means of a bolt 28 threadedlyengaged in the end of the arm. The opposite end of the arm is formedwith a bore 29 adapted to receive the reduced end 39 of an operatingshaft 3!. The end 30 is threaded to receive a nut 32 for securing abevel gear 33 and in order that the gear may be actuated by theoperating shaft 3|, the gear will be keyed or otherwise secured to theshaft.

The handle sections 53 and M are of tapered semicircular formation, theupper ends termimating in flat bearing plates 34 forming a seat for flatbearing plate '35 of a hand knob 35 secured to the upper end of theoperating shaft 3!.

The disks 2! and 22 are each provided with an integral radially extendedarm 31, as may be seen in Figures 2 and 3, of any suitable length, theends being each provided with an opening 38 for operative connectionwith a link 39, the latter being extended and connected with the unitsto becontrolled, the latter not being illustrated.

Any suitable means are provided for support of the unit, and in thepresent instance, I have shown a bracket 40 consisting of spaceduprights 4| having bearings 42 through which the shaft 23 is extended.

In certain cases, where a multiplicity of units are to be controlled, itis contemplated to mount a number of control units in a side by siderelation, using a single shaft 23 for support of the several units, andin order to avoid interference between the units, the arms 31 may beformed inwardly divergent as shown in Figure 2'.

The operation of the control unit will be substantially as follows, itbeing assumed that the arms 31 are connected respectively to throttlesof engines upon the left and right of an aircraft.

If a simultaneous advance or retardation of the throttles is desired, aforward or backward movement is given the control lever, generallyindicated by the reference character 43. The

casings H and 12 will be rotated about the hubs ll of the gears, andsince the gear 33 is in mesh with gears l8 and 19, these will move inunison, effecting the desired movement of the disks 2| and 22 and theirassociated arms 31, to advance or retard the throttles of the engines.However, should it be desired to advance the speed of one engine andretard the other, the knob 36 is rotated in the desired direction. Forinstance, if the engine to the left is to be retarded, the knob 35 isrotated in that direction, effecting rotation of the shaft 3| andassociated gear 33, The gear 33 would rotate the gear l8 and disk 2| toretard the arm 31, while gear l9 would be advanced in the oppositedirection to advance the setting of its associated disk and arm toincrease the speed of the engine upon the right side of a craft. If itis desired to retard the engine on the right side and advance the speedof the engine on the left, the operation is just reversed.

While I have shown and described a preferred form of the device, this isby way of illustration only, and I consider as my own all suchmodifications in construction as fairly fall within the scope of theappended claims.

I claim:

1. A control unit for remotely located instruments comprisin anoscillatable housing, a hand lever for oscillating said housing, a pairof bevel gears within the housing, said gears each having a hubincluding an axial opening, said hub being of a length extendingexteriorly of the housing, a disk fixed to each extended hub portion, ashaft journalled through the aligned openings of said gears, each diskhaving an arm for connection to an instrument to be controlled, anoperating shaft journalled within said hand lever and a bevel gear onsaid shaft in mesh with said first named gears.

2. A control unit for remotely located instruments comprising a housinghaving an integral hand lever, said housing being of annular hollow formand having an axial opening in opposed walls thereof, a pair of bevelgears within the housing each gear including a hub journalled inrespective openings of the walls and having a portion extendedexteriorly thereof, the hubs of the gears having an axial opening, adisk member fixed to each hub exteriorly of the housing, each diskincluding a radially extended arm, said arms having means for connectionto an instrument to be controlled, a shaft journalled in the openings ofsaid hubs, a gear-mounting arm on said shaft disposed between saidgears, an idler gear mounted upon one end of said last named arm in meshwith said bevel gears, an operating shaft journalled in said hand leverand being rotatably supported in the other end of said gear-mountingarm, and a bevel gear fixed upon said operating shaft in mesh with saidfirst named gears.

RALPH W. KERR.

REFERENCES CITED The following, references are of record in th file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Germany June 18, 1931

